Chaos at the Tour de Farce

Marcel Kittel wins the opening stage of the Tour de France as big names are held up by a crash five kilometers from the finish

German Marcel Kittel raced clear of a depleted peloton to cross the line first (Laurent Rebours)

IF YOU have an appetite for chaos you have come to the right place. For we are
in Bastia on the island of Corsica and at the end of the first stage of the
Tour de France there was a winner, the German rider Marcel Kittel, losers
from most of the other 33 countries represented in this race, and chaos
reigned supreme.

Every year the opening stage is anticipated with apprehension. Top riders want
to stay out of trouble and on the particularly narrow roads approaching
Bastia this proved impossible.

The crash, five kilometres from the finish, was horrific. One rider went down,
causing mayhem all around him, others came down and when the casualties were
identified, they were mostly A-listers.

Mark Cavendish, who was most people’s favourite to win here and claim his
first Yellow Jersey at the Tour de France, was caught in the pile-up, as
were two